Cbe Conservative.
OUll FUTURE POLICY.
Kx-Set-relary Carlisle' * Argument ) * Against
Acquiring Outside Territory.
A notabli ! article on tliu acquirement of now
possessions by this government is contributed
to Harper's Magazine for October by ex-Secre
tary John G. Carlisle. Ho reviews the action
of congress immediately preceding the war ,
and the history of the Monroe doctrine , and
then continues :
How can wo consistently deny the
right of other nations to acquire terri
tory on this continent or in this hemi
sphere if we at the same time assert our
own right to seize provinces and estab
lish governments wherever we may
choose ? Nations have long lives , and
this question is certain to confront us
sooner or later if we take the new de
parture which many of our people now
seem to favor.
But even if we were untrammelled by
pledges , expressed or implied , or "by our
past declarations concerning the acquisi
tion of territory in this hemisphere by
other nations there are abundant rea
sons , affecting our own economic and
political interests , why we should not
repudiate the conservative and safe pol
icy which has made us the most com
pact , homogeneous , and progressive
couutiy in the world , and enter upon an
unjustifiable and dangerous contest for
dominion and power beyond the natural
limits of our state and federal systems
of government a contest in which success
*
cess would prove to be the greatest calamity -
amity that could befall us as a nation.
That our political institutions were
not designed for the government of de
pendent colonies
NO COLONIES and provinces is a
1XTENDKU. proposition which
scarcely admits of discussion. This was
intended to be a free republic , composed
of self-governing states and intelligent ,
law-abiding , and liberty-loving people ;
and no one has over heretofore supposed
that any territory or community could
be rightfully governed by the central
authority , except for such period as
might be necessary to prepare it for ad
mission into the Union upon a footing
of perfect equality with each of the
other states. The un-American theory
that congress or the executive can per
manently hold and govern any part of
the United States in such manner as it
or he may see proper is a necessary feat
ure of the imperialism which now threat
ens the country ; for it is evident that if
this theory cannot be practically applied
to the proposed additions to our terri
tory , their possession will be a perpetual
menace to our institutions. A large
majority of the population which the
advocates of conquest and annexation
propose to incorporate by force into the
body of American citizenship the Chi
nese , Malays , half-breeds , native pagans
and others are not only wholly unfit to
govern themselves , but incapable of be-
ing successfully governed under our free
constitution.
If , however , territory is acquired , it
must bo governed by either direct con
gressional legisla-
HOW 01UQIXAL Hou Qr b th ( ) in _
TERRITORY MUST hnbitants fc h Q m .
UE OVBUXED.
supervision and control as congress can
constitutionally exorcise. At the close
of the war the title to all of the territory
actually held in subjection by our mili
tary forces will unless otherwise pro
vided by stipulation or treaty , be vested
in the United States for all public and
political purposes. During the war , and
while held by the military authorities ,
it will bo subject to the laws of war , and
may bo governed accordingly , because it
is still enemy's country ; and if a lie facto
government has been established by the
military authorities during the occupa
tion , and is in existence when peace is
concluded , that government may be coii-
thmed for a reasonable time afterwards ,
in order that persons and property may
be protected until the laws of the new
sovereign can be extended over it. This
exceptional form of government is justi
fiable only on the ground of necessity ,
and consequently it can be rightfully
continued only for a sufiicent time to
enable the new proprietor to establish its
own civil authority over the conquest or
cession. But this dc facto military gov
ernment cannot , after the war is over ,
exercise any authority inconsistent with
the constitution of the United States.
There is no room for a military despot
ism , or for the exercise of arbitrary
power by the civil authorities , anywhere
within the jurisdiction of the United
States in time of peace ; and whenever
the Philippine Islands , Porto Rico , or
other islands shall become part of our
territory , their inhabitants will be en
titled to all the rights , privileges , and
immunities secured to the people by the
constitution. While held by the mili
tary forces , after the cessation of hostili
ties , the officials representing the dc facto
government may administer the local
affairs and establish rules and regula
tions for the preservation of peace and
order , but the fundamental rights of the
people must bo respected.
"It cannot be admitted , " says the su
preme court , in a well-considered case ,
"that the king of
VOICE OF THE
g iu could b
SUPREME COURT.
.
treaty other.
wise , impart to the United States any
of his royal prerogatives ; and much less
can it be admitted that thej' have cap
acity to receive or power to exercise
them. Everj" nation acquiring territory ,
by treaty or otherwise , must hold it sub
ject to the constitution and laws of its
own government , and not according to
those of the government ceding it. "
Whatever power congress possesses to
govern a territory , either by direct legis
lation or by providing a form of local
government by the people , is derived
solely from the constitution , and must
be exercised in accordance with that in
strument. Every territorial official ,
whether appointed by the president , des
ignated by congress , or elected by the
people , must take an oath to support the
constitution , and he can perform no va
lid act inconsistent with its provisions.
Under our system no port of our terri
tory or people can bo governed by pro
consuls or governors-general , but only
by responsible officials , whose powers
are regulated and limited , not only by
the express provisions of the constitution
and laws , but by the recognized princi
ples of civil and religious liberty which
constitute the bases of our political in
stitutions. The acquisition of territory
does not necessarily confer upon its in
habitants the immediate right of suf
frage ; but trial by jury , the right to the
writ of habeas corpus , freedom of speech ,
freedom of the press , freedom of con
science in matters of religion , immunity
from unreasonable seizures and searches ,
the right to acquire and enjoy property
free from molestation except by due pro
cess of law , and all the other personal
rights , privileges , and immunities se
cured to citizens and others within our
jurisdiction , must be respected and en
forced in conquered and ceded territory
as well as elsewhere.
The great mass of the people of the
United States as now constituted belong
to a race which
LIBERTY LOV-
IXG PEOPLE.
joyment of personal liberty and self-
government from time immemorial.
They are educated in the principles of
English and American liberty , and they
appreciate the blessings of free govern
ment ; but the ignorant , degraded and
servile races which it is now proposed
to absorb into the body politic know
absolutely nothing about these princi
ples or the institutions established for
their maintenance ; and oven if they did ,
they are wholly incapable of appreciat
ing them. All their habits , traditions ,
experience , and surroundings , especially
in the Philippine Islands and the other
islands belonging to Spain , are opposed
to our theories of government. Not
only their political system , butthoir civ
ilization , their social customs , and their
conceptions of right and wrong are
wholly different from ours. The sense
of individual independence in the con
duct of their own private affairs and of
responsibility to the community and the
state in the conduct of public affairs , has
never existed in the minds of these people
ple , and it cannot be imparted to them
by a mere change of sovereignty. What
they are now they must continue to be
for many generations , and the political
power which their numbers and the pop
ular character of our institutions will
ultimately entitle them to exorcise will
have a strong tendency to debase our
legislation , and may even control the
